首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Sky-high gasoline prices aren’t just raising the cost of Eugene Marino’s 120-mile(193-kilometer)round-trip to his job in the Was
Sky-high gasoline prices aren’t just raising the cost of Eugene Marino’s 120-mile(193-kilometer)round-trip to his job in the Was
admin
2014-01-07
55
问题
Sky-high gasoline prices aren’t just raising the cost of Eugene Marino’s 120-mile(193-kilometer)round-trip to his job in the Washington area. They’re reducing his wealth, too.
House prices in his rural subdivision beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains in Charles Town, West Virginia, have plunged as commuting expenses have soared. A four-bedroom home down the street from his is listed for $239,000, after selling new for $360,000 five years ago.
Homeowners in the exurbs aren’t the only ones whose assets have taken a hit because of the surge in energy costs. Companies such as General Motors Corp. are writing off billions of dollars in plants and equipment that are no longer viable in an age of dearer oil. The destruction of wealth and capital will weigh on U.S. growth for years to come.
"Our whole economy reflects the relative costs of energy: the cars we drive, the houses we occupy, the kinds of factories we have and the equipment in them," says Dana Johnson, chief economist at Comerica Bank in Dallas. "I’m expecting relatively large changes in all of these things."
The loss of wealth could be a double whammy for the U.S. economy. In the short run, it depresses demand as homeowners save more and spend less, and companies fire workers. Longer run, it curbs productivity growth, as firms shift their focus from increasing worker efficiency to reducing energy costs.
"At $4 per gallon gas, $125 per barrel oil and $10 per million Btu natural gas, a lot of activity becomes uneconomical," says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
The lifestyle of the exurban commuter may be one casualty.
Emerging suburbs and exurbs—commuter towns that lie beyond cities and their traditional suburbs—grew about 15 percent from 2000 to 2006, nearly three times as fast as the U.S. population, as Americans moved further out in search of more affordable houses or the bigger ones that are sometimes derided as McMansions.
"It was drive until you qualify for a mortgage," says Robert Lang, director of the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech in Alexandria, Virginia. "You can’t do that anymore. Your cost of transportation will spike too much."
Compared with the present, the loss of wealth will bring about
选项
A、a shrinking market.
B、shortage of labor force.
C、weakening productivity.
D、a lower working efficiency.
答案
A
解析
第5段第2句中的depresses demand,spend less等表明需求减少,购买力降低,这些都暗示市场萎缩,由此可见,本题应选A。C、D很具干扰性,C中的productivity和D中的efficiency在第5段第3句提及,要注意的是,it curbs productivity growth表明生产力的发展速度会减缓,这并不意味着生产力会下降,因此C是不正确的;同样道理,即使“公司关注的焦点不再是如何提高员工工作效率”,也不意味着工作效率会降低,D也不正确。
转载请注明原文地址:https://www.kaotiyun.com/show/fkFK777K
0
专业英语四级
相关试题推荐
WhereisJoan’sfamilygoingtospendsummer?
HowmanypeoplediedoneregionaloneaftercycloneIvan?
Accordingtothepassage,whatdopeopleoftenthinkaboutastronomers?
Thisyear,likelotsofotherpeople,I’mgoingtotrytomakemyownChristmaspresents.It’snotthefirsttimethatI’veprom
StevewantstotraveltoLondonbytraininsteadofbusbecause
WhentheoldcouplecametoAmerica,theystartedtolearnEnglishfrom______.
Parentsoftenwonderwhattheirlittleonesareabsorbingfromthem.Forexample,mymotherhadawonderfulvocabulary.Soitma
Personalityistoalargeextentinherent--AtypeparentsusuallybringaboutAtypeoffspring.Buttheenvironmentmustalso
Yesterdaymyauntboughtsomenew______forherflatattheseaside.
Well,therewasamanhereoncebythenameofJimSmiley,inthewinterof1849—ormaybeitwasthespringof1850.Anyway,he
随机试题
高胆红素血症的患儿需光照疗法时应()
颊部的血液供应十分丰富,主要来源于
男性,27岁。查体:脾脏触诊有摩擦感,压痛明显,脾脏听诊可闻及摩擦音。该患者的诊断是
水运工程质量检验中,按建筑施工的()划分分项工程。
货物从境内进人物流中心视同出口,企业向海关申报时:
专家系统是一个电脑系统,其具有某专业领域的特定知识,可以解决该领域的问题或给予建议,是人工智能领域较成功的例子。根据以上定义,以下属于专家系统的是:
下列金融创新当中,不属于规避利率风险的创新的是()。
微分方程ydx+(x一3y2)dy=0满足条件y|x=1=1的解为y=________.
要显示格式为“页码/总页数”的页码,应当设置文本框控件的控制来源属性为()。
OnecountrythatiscertainoftheeffectoffilmsontourismisAustralia.TheTouristOfficeofQueenslandsaythatCrocodile
最新回复
(
0
)